Physiologia plantarum最新文献

{"title":"Formulation of a consortium-based Zn biofertilizer, and its quality control, to improve Zn status of wheat grains and Wistar rat blood plasma.","authors":"Shaibi Saleem, Shams Tabrez Khan","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70206","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ppl.70206","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Zn-deficiency causes immense losses to agriculture and leads to various human health issues adding to the burden on the global healthcare system. Growing zinc-dense cereals using Zn-biofertilizer is one of the most enticing solutions to the problem. In this study a Zn-biofertilizer containing a consortium of Zn-solubilizing strains of Streptomyces sp., Pseudomonas sp. and Zinc oxide nanoparticles as source of Zn was prepared. Strains showing an excellent Zn-solubilization efficiency (>200%), additional plant-growth-promoting traits, abiotic stress tolerance, and root colonization were selected. Seven experiments, mainly comparing the influence of bulk and nano-ZnO as Zn-sources in combination with the prepared Zn-biofertilizer on wheat plant growth and grain Zn-fortification were performed. When wheat plants were grown in the presence of prepared biofertilizer and nano-ZnO a significant increase in plant vegetative growth and grain yield was observed. A 35.1%, 60.5% and 67.2% increase in total- plant length, fresh and dry-weight respectively, was observed compared to the control. Similarly, wheat grains per spike, grain yield, and grain protein increased by 17.0%, 13.9%, and 47.5%, respectively. The Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy and SEM-EDX of wheat grains grown with biofertilizer and nano-ZnO reveal a high Zn-content (43.0 ± 0.5 mg kg^-1) in the grains. The AAS analysis of the blood from Wistar rats fed with Zn-dense wheat flour obtained in the study shows a higher Zn-content (7.79 ± 0.18 μg ml^-1) in the blood than those fed with control flour. This study conclusively proves that the prepared Zn-biofertilizer with ZnO-nanoparticles can improve the Zn-content of wheat, consequently increasing blood Zn-content in rats.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 2","pages":"e70206"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143796099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gibberellic acid and light effects on seed germination in the seagrass Zostera marina.","authors":"Riccardo Pieraccini, Lawrence Whatley, Nico Koedam, Ann Vanreusel, Tobias Dolch, Jasper Dierick, Tom Van der Stocken","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70137","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ppl.70137","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Seagrass meadows have been heavily affected by human activities, with Zostera marina L. (Zosteraceae) being one of the most impacted species. Seed-based methods are currently the preferred approach for their restoration, yet low germination rates and poor seedling establishment remain significant challenges. This study explored the combined effects of light spectra (white, red, and darkness), photoperiod, and gibberellic acid (GA_3-0, 50, 500, and 1000 mg L^-1) on Z. marina seed germination using a fully crossed incubation experiment. Penalised logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards analysis were chosen to account for low germination events and to analyse the temporal dynamics of germination. We found that light conditions, particularly red light and darkness, when combined with GA₃, significantly enhanced germination probability. Furthermore, mid (50 mg L^-1) and high (500 mg L^-1) GA₃ concentrations reduced time-to-germination. Morphometric analysis of the cotyledonary and leaf tissue development indicates no adverse effects of the treatments on seedling development. Our findings suggest that light and GA₃ treatments effectively improve germination success and reduce dormancy in Z. marina seeds. Seed treatments can mitigate stress- or manipulation-induced dormancy and can represent a viable strategy for on-demand germination, such as in the context of seed-based restoration efforts.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 2","pages":"e70137"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11894247/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143597625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"New avenues in photosynthesis: from light harvesting to global modeling.","authors":"Tiina Tosens, Alessandro Alboresi, Herbert van Amerongen, Roberto Bassi, Florian A Busch, Giovanni Consoli, Oliver Ebenhöh, Jaume Flexas, Jeremy Harbinson, Peter Jahns, Nina Kamennaya, David M Kramer, Johannes Kromdijk, Tracy Lawson, Erik H Murchie, Ülo Niinemets, Sara Natale, Dennis J Nürnberg, Andrea Persello, Paolo Pesaresi, Christine Raines, Urte Schlüter, Tom P J M Theeuwen, Stefan Timm, Dimitri Tolleter, Andreas P M Weber","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70198","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.70198","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Photosynthesis underpins life on Earth, serving as the primary energy source while regulating global carbon and water cycles, thereby shaping climate and vegetation. Advancing photosynthesis research is essential for improving crop productivity and refining photosynthesis models across scales, ultimately addressing critical global challenges such as food security and environmental sustainability. This minireview synthesizes a selection of recent advancements presented at the 2nd European Congress of Photosynthesis Research, focusing on improving photosynthesis efficiency and modelling across the scales. We explore strategies to optimize light harvesting and carbon fixation, leading to canopy level improvements. Alongside synthetic biology, we examine recent advances in harnessing natural variability in key photosynthetic traits, considering both methodological innovations and the vast reservoir of opportunities they present. Additionally, we highlight unique insights gained from plants adapted to extreme environments, offering pathways to improve photosynthetic efficiency and resilience simultaneously. We emphasize the importance of a holistic approach, integrating dynamic modeling of metabolic processes to bridge these advancements. Beyond photosynthesis improvements, we discuss the progress of improving photosynthesis simulations, particularly through improved parametrization of mesophyll conductance, crucial for enhancing leaf-to-global scale simulations. Recognizing the need for greater interdisciplinary collaboration to tackle the grand challenges put on photosynthesis research, we highlight two initiatives launched at the congress-an open science platform and a dedicated journal for plant ecophysiology. We conclude this minireview with a forward-looking outline, highlighting key next steps toward achieving meaningful improvements in photosynthesis, yield, resilience and modeling.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 2","pages":"e70198"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143975696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unravelling ecophysiological and molecular adjustments in the photosynthesis-respiration balance during Fusarium graminearum infection in wheat spikes.","authors":"Florian Rocher, Pierre Bancal, Alain Fortineau, Géraldine Philippe, Philippe Label, Thierry Langin, Ludovic Bonhomme","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70150","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ppl.70150","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Wheat responses to F. graminearum result in a deep and sharp reprogramming of a wide range of biological processes, including energy-associated functions and related metabolisms. Although these impacts have been thoroughly described at the molecular scale through proteomics and transcriptomics studies, phenotypic studies are still needed to fill the gap between the observed molecular events and the actual impacts of the disease on the ecophysiological processes. Taking advantage of the gas exchange method, the effects of two F. graminearum strains of contrasting aggressiveness on spike's photosynthesis and respiration-associated processes during an early infection time course were deeply characterized. Besides, an RNAseq-based expression profiling of the genes involved in the photosynthesis, respiration and stomatal movement processes was also performed when plants were challenged using the same two fungal strains. In response to Fusarium head blight, CO₂ assimilation and CO₂ diffusion adjustments matched transcriptomic data, showing altered photosynthetic processes and sharp gene regulations unrelated to symptom development. In contrast, although ecophysiological characterization clearly demonstrated respiration adjustments along with the F. graminearum's infection process, the gene regulations involved were not fully captured transcriptionally. We demonstrated that combining gas exchange methods with transcriptomics is especially effective in enhancing and deepening our understanding of complex physiological adjustments, providing unique and complementary insights that cannot be predicted from a single approach.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 2","pages":"e70150"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11911717/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143649480","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Transcriptome and metabolome analysis revealed that phenylpropanoid and flavonoid biosynthesis respond to drought in tiger nut.","authors":"Zhang Qi, Yan Cheng, Yuling Gao, Runqing Liu, Haoxin Li, Jinqi Yu, Jiaxuan Guo, Meiqing Li, Caihua Li, Yuhuan Li, Hongda Wang, Qingqing Xu, Jiaxi Liu, Xuewei Sun, Zhongsheng Mu, Jidao Du","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70191","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ppl.70191","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Tiger nuts (Cyperus esculentus) have emerged as a novel oil crop, being utilized as raw materials for obtaining industrial ink. Drought is a serious stress that significantly affects the entire plant and reduces its yield. The seedling stage is crucial as it determines the future growth and yield. Consequently, it is essential to enhance the ability of tiger nuts to mitigate drought at the seedling stage. A comprehensive analysis was conducted on roots and leaves, including their phenotypes, physiological indicators, transcriptomes, and metabolomes. The results revealed that leaves and roots were affected by drought stress, as evidenced by phenotypic data such as leaf area and physiological indicators, including changes in peroxidase and catalase activity, malondialdehyde content, electrolyte leakage, and superoxide anion levels. Drought imposed greater effects on leaves. Phenylpropanoid and flavonoid biosynthesis were identified as candidate pathways using transcriptome and metabolome analysis, Real-Time Quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), and physiological verifications. However, the response modes of the root and leaf parts differed based on the enriched pathways analysis, indicating that the changes in the content of some metabolites were contrasting between the roots and leaves. The study revealed the molecular mechanisms under drought, particularly the synergistic responses in leaves and roots, providing insights and a theoretical basis for enhancing the drought tolerance of tiger nuts.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 2","pages":"e70191"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143803984","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Role of pepper bZIP transcription factor CaADBZ1 in abscisic acid signalling and drought stress response.","authors":"Jihye Choi, Chae Woo Lim, Sung Chul Lee","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70159","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ppl.70159","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In plants, basic-region/leucine-zipper (bZIP) transcription factors are key regulators of stress responses mediated by various phytohormone signalling pathways. However, the roles of bZIP transcription factors in pepper, particularly those associated with ABA signalling and drought stress, remain poorly understood. In this study, we isolated the CaADBZ1 (Capsicum annuum ABA and Dehydration-Induced bZIP transcription factor 1) gene, a member of the group A family, and analysed its functions in response to dehydration stress and ABA signalling. The expression of CaADBZ1 was specifically induced by dehydration and exogenous ABA treatment, not salinity and osmotic stress. CaADBZ1 was found to have transactivation activity in yeast cells, which was dependent on the N-terminal of CaADBZ1 (amino acids 1-112), harbouring a highly conserved C1 domain. Notably, a dual-luciferase reporter assay revealed that CaADBZ1 modulated the expression of CaOSR1, a dehydration stress-responsive gene in pepper plants. Functional studies in both pepper and Arabidopsis plants revealed that the modulation of CaADBZ1 expression level affected dehydration stress resistance in pepper and Arabidopsis plants. CaADBZ1-silenced pepper Arabidopsis plants showed dehydration stress-sensitive phenotypes characterized by higher transpiration rates and reduced expression of dehydration-responsive genes compared to control plants. Conversely, overexpression of the CaADBZ1 gene in Arabidopsis plants enhanced dehydration stress resistance. Moreover, CaADBZ1-overexpressing Arabidopsis transgenic plants showed increased ABA sensitivity during the seedling stage. Collectively, our findings suggest that CaADBZ1 plays a crucial role in enhancing dehydration stress tolerance in plants by positively regulating ABA sensitivity and dehydration-responsive gene expression.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 2","pages":"e70159"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11920937/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143658216","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unveiling the role and crosstalk of hydrogen sulfide with other signalling molecules enhances plant tolerance to water scarcity.","authors":"Diksha Bagal, Anuj Guleria, Aksar Ali Chowdhary, Praveen Kumar Verma, Sonal Mishra, Sonica Rathore, Vikas Srivastava","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70222","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.70222","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Drought, a major factor limiting global crop yields, disrupts plant growth, water interactions, and overall water use efficiency. Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), a key gasotransmitter, has become a crucial signalling molecule in plant biology. It promotes growth and development while significantly contributing to the plant's response to various abiotic stresses, including drought. This review explores how H₂S mitigates drought stress in plants and crosstalks with various signalling molecules such as nitric oxide, melatonin, abscisic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid, polyamines, and others. It highlights how these interactions, with H₂S acting either upstream or downstream, enhance the plant's stress response and resistance. Furthermore, H₂S signalling involves persulfidation, in which H₂S modifies protein thiol groups to protect against oxidative damage. The review underscores the key role of protein persulfidation in reducing reactive oxygen species accumulation and maintaining redox homeostasis under drought stress. The review aims to elucidate the role of H₂S in stress relief and expand our knowledge of how it contributes to plant resistance during water scarcity by examining its regulatory mechanisms and interactions. Additionally, it proposes practical strategies for enhancing agricultural practices in the face of growing drought conditions, offering methods to leverage H₂S for improving plant tolerance to water scarcity.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 2","pages":"e70222"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144024016","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"UDP-glycosyltransferase gene OvIF7GT from Onobrychis viciifolia Scop. discovered through IISMTA confers drought tolerance to Arabidopsis thaliana.","authors":"Hengxia Yin, Zhengfang Zhang, Zhenzhen Li, Wei Wang, Chengti Xu, Xiaolan Ma, Xin Xiang, Lam-Son Phan Tran, Benyin Zhang","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70214","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.70214","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The identification and functional analysis of key stress tolerance-related genes are of paramount importance in elucidating mechanisms regulating plant responses and adaptation to environmental stresses. Significant progress has been achieved in mining stress tolerance-related genes through the integrative analysis of metabolome and other omics data. However, methodologies for the precise identification of secondary metabolites still require further refinement. This study introduces a novel approach for discovering critical stress tolerance-related genes by integrating isolation and identification of drought-responsive secondary metabolites and transcriptome analysis (IISMTA). Using this approach, four drought-responsive metabolites (RMs), namely formononetin, afrormosin, ononin, and wistin, were isolated from Onobrychis viciifolia and further characterized by chromatography, high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technologies. Only formononetin was identified, while the latter three were undetected in a widely-targeted metabolome analysis, indicating the novelty of our approach. A correlational analysis between proposed biosynthetic pathways of RMs and transcriptome data of drought-stressed vs. non-stressed O. viciifolia seedlings was conducted to identify the genes involved. Among the upregulated genes potentially involved, OvIF7GT, encoding an isoflavone glycosyltransferase, was ectopically expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana to assess its functional role in the biosyntheses of these compounds and plant drought adaptation. Results indicated that OvIF7GT transgenic plants showed increased total flavonoid contents and drought tolerance that was associated with enhanced antioxidant defense and osmoprotection, and reduced oxidative damage. Therefore, the IISMTA developed in this study is a valuable complement to the existing gene and metabolite discovery approaches.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 2","pages":"e70214"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144033843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Different modulation of the redox homeostasis and hormone levels by ascorbate, hydrogen peroxide and hydrogen sulfide in maize.","authors":"Kalpita Singh, Muhammad Ahsan Asghar, Kristóf Jobbágy, Kitti Kulman, Gabriella Szalai, Kamirán Áron Hamow, Alexandra Soltész, Dávid Polgári, Zsolt Gulyás, Gábor Kocsy","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70215","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.70215","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ascorbate, hydrogen peroxide and hydrogen sulfide affect the cellular redox homeostasis by distinct mechanisms. This work aimed to compare their relative effect (set against the control) on the redox and hormonal state of maize seedlings by the application of an oxidant (5 mM H₂O₂) and two reductants (5 mM ascorbate and 1 mM NaHS). Interestingly, NaHS significantly increased the reduced-to-oxidized glutathione ratio in shoots, resulting in a more reduced cellular environment. In contrast, Asc decreased this ratio, leading to oxidative stress, while H₂O₂ had no significant effect. Accordingly, the greatest increase in electrolyte leakage and lipid peroxidation was observed in Asc-treated seedlings. Among the enzymes participating in the removal of H₂O₂, the activity of dehydroascorbate reductase, monodehydroascorbate reductase, and catalase exhibited a great increase after 7 days of Asc treatment, while ascorbate peroxidase exhibited the highest activity after H₂O₂ application. Besides Asc, H₂O₂ also resulted in a great increase in the level of the stress hormones jasmonic acid, salicylic acid and abscisic acid compared to H₂S. These changes were accompanied by a great reduction of shoot fresh weight by Asc and H₂O₂ but not by NaHS. This inhibition of growth is an indicator of oxidative stress induced by Asc and H₂O₂ treatments. Interestingly, phenolic and flavonoid compounds varied significantly across treatments, suggesting redox regulation of their synthesis. The simultaneous changes in the studied parameters signify the crosstalk of hormones and antioxidants to regulate specific modifications in plant growth and metabolism via cellular redox regulation. The present results about the pivotal role of redox balance in maintaining physiological and biochemical processes offer insights into strategies for enhancing plant resilience and productivity.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 2","pages":"e70215"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144031927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Azolla mediated alterations in grain yield and quality in Rice.","authors":"Nadia Bazihizina, Chiara Paleni, Stefania Caparrotta, Tania Macchiavelli, Giorgia Guardigli, Ilaria Colzi, Michele Petrillo, Cristina Gonnelli, Antonietta Saccomanno, Veronica Gregis, Stefano Mancuso, Diego Comparini, Martin M Kater, Camilla Pandolfi","doi":"10.1111/ppl.70158","DOIUrl":"10.1111/ppl.70158","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Rice is one of the most important cereal crops worldwide. To boost its production in a sustainable manner, co-cultivation with Azolla species is often used to supplement its nitrogen (N) demands. However, beyond N nutrition, the physiological and developmental effects of azolla on rice remain unclear. This study investigates these mechanisms by analysing growth, inflorescence meristem transcriptomics, yield, and grain ionomics in rice plants grown alone (R) or with azolla (R + A) in non-limiting N conditions. During the vegetative stage, the presence of azolla increased allocation of resources to rice shoots without affecting root growth, while in the reproductive stage, it improved panicle architecture, with a 6% increase in length and up to 26% increase in panicle branching. Nevertheless, while this increase in panicle branching in R + A translated into a greater number of grains per plant, grain weight declined. As a result, yields were similar between R and R + A. There was also an azolla-induced increment in several mineral elements in R + A grains, with the notable exception of zinc, which declined by more than 30%. Finally, the presence of azolla altered the expression of several gene families, and in particular, it led to the upregulation of numerous transcription factors from the AP2/ERF, WRKY and NAM families. Interestingly, the presence of azolla also led to the upregulation of several genes (including WRKY transcription factors) involved in resistance to several pathogens and abiotic stresses. Overall, our results suggest that rice-azolla co-cultivation has implications that go beyond N-nutrition for sustainable intensification of rice production.</p>","PeriodicalId":20164,"journal":{"name":"Physiologia plantarum","volume":"177 2","pages":"e70158"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11947517/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143721113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}